IMG Worldwide has announced that Carl Harris, no rx former President of Ookii Co Athlete Management & Marketing has joined the Action Sports division of the company. 

Harris will be based in Los Angeles and brings his current stable of clients including, Japanese snowboarding phenom  Ayumu Hirano and Two-time U.S. Open of Snowboarding Champion, Kazu Kokubo.

Ayumu Hirano splits his time between the U.S. and Japan. Hirano started the 2013 season winning the Burton High Five in New Zealand and has been increasingly dominating events.   In March 2013, the 14-year-old earned second place at the Burton U.S. Open of Snowboarding Championships and became the youngest snowboarder ever to claim the prestigious “TTR Halfpipe World Champion” title at the event.  This victory follows Hirano’s silver medal win at the Aspen X Games in February, and first place finish at the 2013 Burton European Open Halfpipe Finals in Laax, Switzerland.

A fixture at the WX Final and competitions around the world, Kazu Kokubo was the 2010 WX SuperPipe bronze medalist and competed at both the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Torino 2006 Winter Olympics. In competition he focuses on style and always incorporates the latest tricks. Kokubo also appeared in the opening sequence of the Burton movie, “Standing Sideways” in 2011.  Additionally, Eiju Hirano (Ayumu’s Brother), Teddy Koo, Kohei Kudo and Kotaro Kamimura join the IMG family with Harris.

Harris joins IMG from Ookii Co Athlete Management and Marketing where he served as President for the past three years.  Previously, Harris spent three years as Vice President of Business Development at VAS Entertainment.  Prior to that, Harris spent five years at Viacom’s MTV Network. Harris has also held positions at Swatch Group, Burton Snowboards, and as Supervising Producer and Director for Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom HuckJam.

“We are excited to welcome Carl to IMG, he’s done an amazing job assembling a tremendously talented group of snowboarders,” said Mark Ervin, Vice President, IMG Action Sports.  “Kazu has driven the progression of snowboarding for over a decade, and at 14-years-old Ayumu is poised to be the future of the sport.”

“The opportunity to join IMG was an easy decision to make.  IMG’s vast global network and worldwide presence offers tremendous access to incredible resources to develop Ayumu’s and Kazu’s professional careers well into the future,” said Carl Harris.

Koya Kikuchi, Managing Director, IMG Japan, said, “As we continue to solidify our position as a leader in the actions sports business landscape, the ability to work with world-class talent such as Ayumu Hirano and Kazu Kokubo provides the opportunity to truly leverage IMG’s global capabilities in the marketplace.”

IMG represents some of the most influential and well-known athletes and event properties within the Action Sports world. IMG represents Olympic Gold medalist, Lindsey Vonn, surfing sensation, Kolohe Andino and Motocross rider Ryan Dungey among many others.

English Conference club, Mansfield Town have announced their One Call Stadium capacity has increased for the second time in three months.

Safety chiefs have raised capacity from 7,888 to 8,186 after praising Stags’ officials for their professional approach of managing a full stadium when the club hosted Liverpool in the FA Cup last month. 

Joint Operations Director Tina Broughton said:  “SAG (Safety Advisory Group) were very pleased with the way we handled a full house during a massive tie for the club. 

“We are pleased that SAG have recognised this and to have our capacity increased again is a positive step forward for the club.”

Prize money for the Hong Kong Open has been cut by US$750, ailment 000 to US$2m, capsule organisers said yesterday.

It comes despite the tournament retaining sponsor UBS. This year’s Hong Kong Open will take place November 15 to 18.

“It’s one of these things that have happened because of the downturn of the world economy, capsule ” Hong Kong Golf Association Chief Executive, Iain Valentine said.

Valentine said he was hopeful that stars such as Rory McIlroy would play.

“The Hong Kong Open has a very unique place in the European Tour schedule of events and people like to play Hong Kong because of the golf course and because of Hong Kong in general, they just like coming here.”

Organisers are reportedly seeking HK$16m (US$2m) from a Hong Kong government fund to assist the showpiece event, double what it received last year. {jcomments on}

Two by Four, there a leading integrated marketing agency offering advertising, design, interactive, promotions and direct response services, today unveiled a new brand campaign for the Chicago Bears.

This fall’s campaign conveys a strong sense of power and motion—pairing commanding headlines with epic, larger-than-life visuals and a dynamic design treatment.

The campaign continues to build upon the shared values and relationship between Chicago, fans and the Bears organization with images of the city in the backdrop of all elements. Executions highlight the Bears’ strength in defense with headlines such as “It’s Crueler by the Lake,” “Believe in Monsters” and “Right of No Passage,” featuring defensive end Julius Peppers, linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, and cornerback Charles Tillman. Executions such as “Unfair Catch” and “Here, It’s Never Too Cold to Get Burned” showcase the team’s offensive players with quarterback Jay Cutler and wide receivers Earl Bennett, Brandon Marshall and Devin Hester. Other players also take the spotlight in several ads.

To achieve a contemporary, dynamic look and feel, Two by Four commissioned international illustrator Caroline Blanchet. The resulting art direction allows players to take on epic, larger-than-life personas and conveys a sense of power and motion. The team colors of navy and orange also take on a more electric, intense palette. Players were shot by Bears team photographer, Bill Smith, wearing the new Nike Elite NFL uniforms.

“This year’s campaign still celebrates the unique bond between the Bears, their fans and Chicago, but it also portrays their talented, hardworking players in a stoic, almost heroic light—which we feel they deserve,” said Adam VonOhlen, Two by Four Executive Vice President and Creative Director.

“As an organization we’re focused on having a strong roster of talent representative of our values to bring home a Super Bowl victory for our fans and the city of Chicago,” said Bears Vice President of Sales and Marketing Chris Hibbs. “This fall’s campaign communicates that we mean business in a fresh, powerful way.”

Two by Four created over 16 different outdoor concepts that will appear in billboards, Metra stations and CTA bus and train transit. A “Believe in Monsters” television spot was also developed with local production houses Cutters, Inc. and Sol Design FX. The campaign officially launches Tuesday, August 28.

The Indian Grand Prix will go on as scheduled as there were reports that there would be a delay after an inspection was delayed by a month.

F1 Chief Execurive, Bernie Ecclestone, said: “We have people on the ground on a daily basis and they’re telling me we have no problems with construction and everything is on time.” .

F1 officials will now test the Buddh International Circuit developed by Indian construction company Jaiprakash Associated ltd on Aug. 31, Ecclestone said at a sponsorship event. “It will be signed-off on in the first week of September,” ahead of the Oct. 30 race, he said.

Guidelines of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, the world’s governing body for motorsport, stipulate tracks should be fully tested at least 90 days before a competition.

The Indian Grand Prix will be hosted in the Delhi satellite town of Greater Noida, where farmland is being swallowed up by gated communities for a surging middle class. While ticket prices are yet to be announced, the average price of entry into this year’s Chinese race was $385, six months’ income for the 80 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people the World Bank estimates live on less than $2 a day.

“We were ready for the inspection in the first week of August but we all agreed that it made sense” for F1’s Race Director Charlie Whiting “to come at the end of the month,” Vicky Chandhok, president of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, said today in a phone interview. “Logistically, it made sense for Whiting to fly to Delhi around the same time as the other inspections in the region.”

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and its players’ union will reconvene at a Dallas hotel for a second day of meetings about a new labor contract today, June 8, after league commissioner David Stern claimed that yesterday’s talks were ‘open and robust’.

With three weeks before the existing agreement expires, Stern admitted: “I won’t call it heated, but it was good and frank, open and robust. That’s a good thing.”

Stern and NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver took part in about five hours of discussions between almost all of the NBA’s 11-owner labor relations committee and the nine-player executive committee of the Player’s Association (NBPA).

Billy Hunter, executive director of the NBPA, left yesterday’s session without talking to reporters and union spokesman Dan Wasserman also declined to comment. NBPA executive committee members Roger Mason Jr. and Keyon Dooling said the union would comment after today’s talks.

It’s the second time discussions have taken place during the NBA Finals, which is tied at two games apiece after the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 86-83 last night.

The league and the union are arguing over how to divide more than US$4 bn in NBA revenue.

In a bid to rejuvenate the dwindling support for the five-day version of the sport, anesthetist the International Cricket Council (ICC) has moved one step closer to giving the go-ahead to floodlit tests.

It is understood that the only stumbling block standing in the way is finding a ball that can be clearly seen under lights, adiposity but can also retain its colour for the minimum 80 overs.

Experiments over the past two years have shown that either pink or orange balls in place of the traditional red can be seen clearly under lights and a pink ball with a black seem will be trialled throughout the world following testing during the Marylebone Cricket Club’s annual season-opening fixture against county champions Nottinghamshire in Abu Dhabi this year.

ICC general manager Dave Richardson said: “This time next year I hope we will be in a position, pills hopefully, to recommend it be used in a day-night test match.

“The principal aim now is just to confirm that the ball in most conditions can sustain itself for long enough.”

If the cricket committee concludes in a year’s time that the pink ball has been a success and can retain its colour in adverse conditions, the path appears clear for a trial day-night test in the ensuing 12 months

A Brazilian prosecutor warned Felipe Massa that he could be arrested and sentenced to up to six years in prison if he takes team orders to help Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso win the Formula One title.

Massa could be charged with fraud if he allows Alonso to pass him or if he does anything else that would somehow alter the result Sunday at in Interlagos, according to prosecutor Paulo Castilho, known for taking up sports causes in Brazil.

“Massa or any other driver who does anything to fraud the result of the race can be arrested and formally charged,” Castilho told The Associated Press on Thursday. “It doesn’t mean that it will happen, it will be up to the local authority in charge of the event to decide whether the law has been broken.”

The law mentioned by Castilho says that it’s a crime to “fraud by any means, or contribute to fraud, in any way, the result of a sporting event.”

Massa arrived at the Brazilian Grand Prix saying he would give way to his teammate if needed Sunday, just as he did while leading the German GP in July so Alonso could earn more points in the race for the title.

“I would do it again, I’m a professional driver,” Massa said earlier this week.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced longtime marketing executive Pamela El as its new chief marketing officer. 

El will join the league on Aug. 18 and be responsible for marketing and advertising for the NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League.

El was formerly the senior vice president of financial brand marketing for Nationwide Insurance. Before that, she spent more than a decade with State Farm Insurance as marketing vice president.

El will report directly to NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum and oversee the league’s global marketing operation, “directing brand development, overall marketing and advertising for the NBA, WNBA and NBA Development League,” according to a statement from the NBA.

Mr. Tatum said in a statement said that he had “personally worked with Pam for many years on the NBA’s partnership with State Farm,” adding that, “she will be a huge addition as we work to build our brand on a global scale.”

El referred to her new role as “a dream come true,” saying in a statement that “I love the competitiveness of the game and admire the league’s world-class teams and passionate global fanbase.”